NHL scores 2016: Canadiens prove scoring a non-issue with 10-goal outburst

Guess the Canadiens can score without their best skater in the lineup. Since losing 23-point man Alex Galchenyuk and depth center David Desharnais for six to eight weeks, the Canadiens have outscored their opponents 15-3 in two games.

Their latest big game was a 10-1 beatdown of the Colorado Avalanche on a high-scoring Saturday across the NHL. If you’re wondering why 10 goals in a game featuring the Canadiens sounds familiar, just last month Montreal got run out of Columbus in a 10-0 shutout loss.

The last time a team scored 10 in one game then allowed 10 in another during the same season? All the way back in 2005-06 when the Sabres went two months between their 10-goal blowout games. Saturday was also the first time since 1992 where the Canadiens have scored six goals in the first period.

If the glut of scoring doesn’t give the Canadiens confidence, it’s that captain Max Pacioretty had a five-point evening with four goals and an assist in the win. Montreal’s captain had been heating up as of late, with four points in his last three games coming into Saturday. But with the Canadiens having lost some real firepower down the middle for at least a month and a half, Montreal will need all the scoring they can get. And they certainly got it on Saturday.

As for the other team across the way, the nine-goal loss for the Avalanche now has Colorado sitting with the NHL’s worst goal differential at a minus-28. Looks like they too could use a 10-goal victory to get back on track.

Flyers 4, Stars 2
Kings 4, Senators 1
Maple Leafs 4, Bruins 1
Canadiens 10, Avalanche 1
Penguins 4, Lightning 3
Panthers 4, Canucks 2
Blue Jackets 6, Islanders 2
Coyotes 4, Predators 1
Flames 6, Jets 2
Sharks 4, Hurricanes 3

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1. Sidney Crosby is on pace for a monster season...

After scoring a pair of goals in the Penguins’ 4-3 win over the Lightning, Crosby is on pace to do something he hasn’t done in his entire career. Now with 20 goals in 22 games, Crosby is racing toward a near 70-goal season. No player has hit 70 goals in the post-lockout era, and it hasn’t been done since Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne each hit 76 in 1992-93.

Of course, Crosby is likely to cool down. With a shooting percentage of over 25%, it is essentially guaranteed. But even missing six games due to injury, Crosby is putting up one of the best seasons of his career.

2. And Auston Matthews is right behind him.

The Calder Trophy race is going to be something to behold. Not only is Patrik Laine expected to top 30 goals in his rookie season, Auston Matthews is climbing the ladder too after punching in his 12th of the season.

Oh, and it was a beauty too.

3. Winning streaks are all the rage

The Flyers extended their hot streak to eight in a row thanks to a Brayden Schenn natural hat trick. Not only did Schenn score three straight goals for Philadelphia, they also all came on the power play.

Philadelphia isn’t the only Metro team streaking, as the Blue Jackets won their sixth straight after using a four-goal third period to pull away from the Islanders. In fact, the entire top half of the Metropolitan Division is on a tear right now, as not one of the eight teams is below .500 on the year.

Rookie forward Lawson Crouse had a primary assist on Arizona’s opening goal and fought P.K. Subban in their win over the Predators.

The Coyotes needed that win badly, as it stopped a six-game skid that had them sliding down to the basement of the Pacific Division.